canonfanonfandomcom-20200214-history
Squidward Tentacles (The SpongeBob Musical)
Squidward J. Q. Tentacles is a character in the two and a half hour Broadway stage musical show "The SpongeBob Musical", a very brightly colorful, whimsical, creative, and bubbly musical delight that captures the spirit of the 11-minute episodes of the SpongeBob cartoon without literally recreating it, and is reimagined for the theatre as an all new and original humanized and universal story in a sound effect–heavy live-action cartoon world with well thought out costume designs that add more depth to the human representations of the beloved characters, and a score made up of catchy infectious original song singles that dabble in a variety of musical genres, including hip-hop, emo, gospel, and a sea shanty, which were written by popular artists, who are an array of different songwriters with top music talent – including Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, Panic! At The Disco, John Legend, TI, They Might Be Giants, Rage Against The Machine, Sara Bareilles, David Bowie, Brian Eno, The Flaming Lips, The Dirty Projectors, Plain White T’s, Yolanda Adams, Jonathan Coulton, and Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. About him In the musical, Squidward is portrayed by actor Gavin Lee as a human in casual clothing with a really creative silhouette as a nod to the original species of his anthro 2D animated cartoon octopus/squid hybrid counterpart. He wears an outfit that simply pays homage to the character's look, which consists of a blue wig to indicate that he's portraying Squidward, despite his cartoon self being bald, and wears a pair of prop pants used to give him an extra pair of tentacle legs that were an early-workshop creation of two back legs that connect to his heels and waist in a pretty simple manner, instead of decking himself out in a cheap knock-off big foam shape mascot-esque character costume body suit with a big full head mask. This version of Squidward does not imitate Rodger Bumpass' voice and is not a carbon copy of his original cartoon counterpart, who is an old grump ALL the time and such a jerk, but uses the DNA of the cartoon character to bring his own realistic live-action and fully-fleshed human version of the character to life. Although, he is still a cranky, clarinet-playing octopus/squid hybrid, who is like a 1970s sour-puss, has a very gloomy outlook on life, and believing the world’s "a horrible place filled with fear, suffering, and despair", he has some anthropomorphism and appears more human with some adjustments by having more range of emotions, including some optimism, so he's not as cynical. He dreams of becoming a famous stage star for the sake of his late mother, and is willing to do just about anything to achieve his big break. His hunger for stage performing is the result of a rough childhood trauma where he was being made fun of, bullied, and labeled a "loser" for his passion by his classmates. Squidward's mother was his only support system, and her eventual passing further fueled his ongoing quest for stardom. He dreams of Liberace and Busby Berkeley, looks like Lawrence Welk, and is much more flamboyant than his cartoon counterpart, who has always loved dancing and theatrics, because he finally gets his chance to shine in the big showstopping tap number, "I'm Not A Loser", and dons a sequined suit of a sparkly jacket, shirt, and pants ala Liberace-meets-A Chorus Line, plays a pink clarinet, is surrounded with bubbles, and dances with a chorus line of 12 sea anemones composed primarily of men in drag with headpieces, feathery tops, gloves, fishnet tights, and heel shoes during a cheesy, vintage, and fabulous fantasy tap dance number with an old Vegas Broadway show tune that is a 1970s take on 1950s movie musicals that is fully realized, but it is only in his head as he has the fantasies of a 68-year-old. He nearly steals the show by showing off his tap dancing skills that are made all the more impressive with his extra appendages for a total of four legs. These traits show Squidward as a much more three-dimensional and likeable character, because he shows actual concern and human qualities, which is different from the cartoon. As a result of this, the producers had to capture what was human and identifiable among him, and think about how he could move and look like the iconic character we recognize, and this is the reason why the familiar octopus/squid hybrid looks distinctly more human and retains his human features. The gallery of pictures Squidward Tentacles concept art.png Squidward character description 2.png Squidward character description.png Trivia Gavin Lee is a pretty well-known West End and Broadway veteran, but he gave Squidward a standard American accent, and you don’t even hear a hint of Gavin's English accent, so Squidward doesn't speak with a mild English accent. The live-action human version of Squidward does not have the exact same personality as the drowsy, grumpy, cynical, depressing, and more sophisticated clarinet-playing octopus/squid hybrid, who definitely thinks the sea is half empty, is too sarcastic, and obsessed with himself.Category:Canon characters Category:Male characters Category:Characters with clothes Category:Characters with hair Category:Human characters Category:Protagonists Category:Blue characters